Bay Welding Services and Bay Weld Boats held a 50th anniversary open house celebration for their family-owned business in Homer at the boat shop on East End Road on Friday, July 19.

Several hundred people turned out for the event, which included an evening presentation by speaker Jim Anderson introducing the business. The presentation also included comments from second-generation general manager Eric Engebretsen, founder Allen Engebretsen, Homer Mayor Ken Castner and Homer Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Brad Anderson.

Jim Anderson, who has extended family history in the community, began the presentation by expressing gratitude for the efforts of historic families on the southern Kenai Peninsula who homesteaded and built businesses that made substantial contributions to the local economy.

“I’m so honored to be involved in just a very small way with Bay Weld Boats and their team, and to see the incredible culture that they’re creating here and the pride that they take in their work,” he said. “Just to see these massive constructions is mind-blowing when you see how much work goes into these vessels that go out and are enjoyed throughout the waters of Alaska and beyond.”

Eric Engebretsen’s comments began with the story of a 2019 boat launch of a 74-foot catamaran, the Gold Bell Seawolf.

The boat was the largest vessel the company had ever constructed and the company invited the community to watch the launch.

At that time, the Northern Enterprises boatyard facility did not have a large enough dock or lift to get the boat into the water. The company started to develop a plan with engineers to use a crane.

“It turned out we needed the biggest crane in the state and there was one day that year we could use it that happened to coincide with a high tide,” Engebretsen said.

But, it turned out that even with the high tide there wasn’t going to be enough water to float the boat. The company decided to use a bulldozer to dig a hole on the beach to get more water on-site. In the process, Engebretsen said, the bulldozer track fell off and several employees, “did one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen, and they put a bulldozer track back on by hand.”

It worked; the vessel floated away and “it launched a whole new era for us here,” he said.

After the launch, the company started plans for a new lift and a new dock.

“That event created opportunity for us, and it’s created opportunity for this entire community to have a bigger presence in the marine industry,” Engebretsen said.

Then, he echoed some of Jim Anderson’s opening comments.

“I was born and raised right here in Homer and like so many others, I left after high school looking for some place better, and like so many others, I found out there isn’t one,” he said.

Engebretsen has been back in his family’s business for 20 years.

He said to make the party “official,” they decided they would do their own version of a ribbon-cutting ceremony with a ribbon made out of aluminum and “their own method of cutting” using a power tool.

Founder Allen Engebretsen had the honor of cutting the ribbon. “For us, that signifies we’re going into the next 50 years,” Eric Engebretsen said. “Half a century of business is a significant achievement for any company and we’re proud to be in that club.”

Eric Engebretsen noted that his parents applied for their first business license just 10 years after Homer was incorporated as a city in 1964. The company is one of the oldest businesses in Homer and has gone through many transitions as the business landscape of the state and community has changed.

“The foundation my parents were laying together in hard work and relationships is what built what we know is Bay Weld today. It wasn’t easy,” Engebretsen said.

He described working in freezing water and having to stretch the company budget to buy tools in the early days.

“It’s not work for the faint of heart to start something and build a foundation, and we are now a bedrock of the community.”

Engebretsen said the company now employees about 50 people, many who also have a long history in Homer. The company has 30,000 square feet of workspace all built by local contractors. The company prioritizes making local purchases in order to support other businesses in the community economy and many of the clients for the company are local. Several have been using the business services for decades, Engebretsen said.

“We love doing business here. We love living here. We are proud to be building a product and operating a business that our community is proud to say that was built in Homer.”

Allen Engebretsen started the business in 1974. He also grew up in Homer as a commercial fisherman and during off seasons learned how to weld and build boats with another local, George Hamm. Allen Engebretsen provided a few modest comments to the gathered crowd as well. “My success has always been the people that work with me,” he said.

He talked about his personal history in commercial fishing and how that contributed to the design of the current boats that have a “commercial look to them.”

He thanked Dennis Calhoun for helping design the company’s first boats and all former company employees who have contributed to what the company is today.

“It has taken a lot of people over the years to create this product. It’s just to honor to share this time; it’s been a fun 50 years,” he said.

Castner provided his thanks and memories of the company’s time in the community. He said that what the original boats the company produced, skiffs and jitneys, were a much smaller product than what they are creating today.

“Homer attracts people that could be successful anywhere, anywhere in the country, anywhere in the world. And the fact that this quality of a company existing here does not surprise me,” he said.

He also noted how much a company like Bay Weld contributes to the local economy. Bay Weld and Spenard Builders Supply were the two companies that Castner reached out to during COVID to help them confirm they had a plan in place to continue the momentum of business.

“If we shut down those two businesses. It would have been a different story,” he said.

Finally, Brad Anderson from the Homer Chamber of Commerce provided his thanks and appreciation to the company for their influence on the local business community.

The event also offered several raffle ticket prizes, refreshments, a celebration cake and the services of a local food truck.